The Best of Performing Arts in Independent Schools

Performing arts give pupils – not just budding thespians – a rounded education. They’ve also been instrumental in building partnerships with the state sector where facilities and expertise are shared, writes Elizabeth Ivens

The UK’s independent schools sector has been under fire again – this time, it’s being accused of “upstaging the West End with its cutting-edge theatres”. (The Sunday Times, 10th Sept, 2017).

The newspaper suggests schools’ theatrical facilities, particularly in the capital, are just a way of them competing with each other and result in parents suffering through fee rises.

But independent schools have fought back, arguing that the performing arts help to shape the education of all children, not just budding thespians and not just in the independent sector.

They point to the many schools in the state sector that have outstanding facilities themselves and to the huge importance of the performing arts as part of the UK’s creative industries, which generate more than £84.1 billion a year for the economy, (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport 2016).

Not an issue of fees

Deputy Head of Hurtwood House School, near Dorking, James Baker says: “I’ve rarely met anyone who just builds capital projects to keep up with another school. Spending millions of pounds is not really relevant to what goes on.

Above, Hurtwood House, Surrey

Here, we have a theatre that was built 45 years ago. Hurtwood was ahead of its time in valuing the academic and creative equally – just as some schools use sport as a glue for their community, for us it is the performing arts.”

And Bridget O’Brien, Director of Drama at Gresham’s in Norfolk, another school renowned for its performing arts and alma mater of actress Olivia Colman, agrees:

“This is not a fee issue – buildings are supported through sponsorship and fundraising, and are there in the recognition of developing a wider liberal arts education that encourages students to be active participants in the performing arts.

“our theatre is in near constant use with a number of local state primary schools using the venue for their annual shows.”

Jeremy Piper, Director of Drama at Alleyn’s School, south London

“School theatres are part of a school’s ethos to offer each student an education that stretches beyond the classroom.”

Across the UK, there are now also hundreds of independent-state school partnerships in the performing arts, which see facilities and expertise shared.

Latest Independent Schools Council figures show that 45% of the 1,301 schools surveyed for its 2017 census are involved in a dramatic partnership with a state school – with a third of them hosting joint events and/or sharing their hall or theatre space.

State partnerships

At Alleyn’s in south London, Director of Drama, Jeremy Piper says: “Our theatre is in near constant use with a number of local state primary schools using the venue for their annual shows.”

The school also has an outreach programme and sends teams of its upper school students with a drama teacher to local state primary schools, says Piper.

Above, Arts Educational Schools, London

Many sector partnerships have been thriving for years, including the link Queenswood School in Hatfield has enjoyed with Lakeside School in Welwyn Garden City, a school for children with complex and severe learning difficulties.

For more than two decades, Queenswood has worked with Lakeside in a partnership, which has seen drama workshops, facility and expertise sharing and an annual performance at Queenswood, where Lakeside pupils have taken to the stage at its 280-seat theatre.

A joyful partnership

Deputy Director of Drama Nick Kelley says: “It is humbling for our students to work with the students from Lakeside. The Lakeside pupils absolutely love it here and the partnership has been inspiring for our pupils, many of whom have even gone on to work in the therapeutic professions.”

Head of Lakeside, Judith Chamberlain says: “This is a really joyful partnership. It is inclusion at its best. Our parents love to come and see their children on a stage. It is incredible for their self-esteem and confidence to stand on a stage in a theatre.”

Above, The Hammond School, Chester

At Gresham’s, Bridget O’Brien says that many rural schools in the independent sector like Gresham’s often provide a much-needed facility, not just for its students but also for other schools and the community.

“We are a venue for performing arts touring companies. Not only does that help to keep live theatre alive, but also because many of the companies we host are performing plays on the examination syllabus, we can invite local schools.”

O’Brien adds: “Teachers within the arts in the independent and state sector have good working relationships. Linking education and drama is important – we don’t want an empty space – we need each other. It is healthy and it makes sense.”

Schools are also concerned that the intrinsic value of the performing arts is too easily dismissed.

The power of drama

Early pioneers of the power of drama across the curriculum include former Director of Drama at St Mary’s Calne in Wiltshire, Lilian Leadbetter who successfully approached RADA with a view to offering all Sixth Form pupils a course that could help them in whatever discipline they were pursuing.

Above, St Mary’s Calne, Wiltshire

The 12-week Advanced Communications and Presentations course subsequently launched at the school in 2006, is still running today.

Currently Director in Residence at St Swithun’s in Winchester, where she is working with new Head of Drama, Georgie Nugent to direct an all-girls’ version of Lord of the Flies, Leadbetter says: “In an ideal world, every school would have a theatre or theatre space.

Being part of a great school production is an education in itself. Great schools recognise and support the creative arts because of the comprehensive benefits for pupils not for the sake of impressive facilities.”

Jeremy Piper at Alleyn’s agrees: “Our facilities are a shopfront demonstrating an institution’s belief in the performing arts as something worth investing in. However, the buildings and facilities are no guarantee of quality; they are only as good as the people who run them and the educational advantages they offer.

As in all disciplines, a teacher who knows their stuff, supported by a senior management team who believes in them, is worth more than any state-of-the-art kit.”

Take centre stage at The MCT

Alleyn’s School in south London has a 350-seat purpose-built theatre, The MCT, and offers its facilities to schools and community groups.

In the last academic year, the school has worked with five state schools, involving 460 performers for around 170 hours of use, all of whom are unanimous in their praise for the school’s support in helping hundreds of local schoolchildren.

“using the theatre gave children fantastic confidence and an insight into future opportunities for music and drama.”

Kathryn Farrelly, Heber School, London

Principal of the Harris Primary Academy in east Dulwich, Jo Conduit, says: “The MCT provided a fantastic opportunity for the children to perform within a theatre environment, and we were able to see their confidence to perform on a stage setting grow throughout the experience.

It also meant we were able to invite all parents to a single performance, allowing the whole school community to come together to celebrate the end of the academic year.”

Kathryn Farrelly from nearby Heber School, agreed that the opportunity of using the theatre gave children “fantastic confidence” and “an insight into future opportunities for music and drama at secondary school.”

And Harvey Eagles, who teaches music at the Bishop Thomas Grant School in Streatham, said that using The MCT was a “highlight” for pupils and the theatre provided “unforgettable experiences of performance within an authentic setting”.

Above, Arts Educational Schools, London

He added: “The MCT is a dynamic venue that reaches out to the community, connecting to those who would otherwise not have an opportunity to experience theatre performance. It has been a highlight for our students who talk with excitement and pride as they reflect upon past productions. We look forward to returning this November for our production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

State schools share the limelight

Many state schools have their own outstanding performing arts facilities. In the capital alone, beacons of excellence include The Charter School in north Dulwich, Henrietta Barnett in Hampstead Garden Suburb and the Latymer School in Edmonton.

At the Latymer, Bristol Old Vic graduate, Nick Vause heads the department. They stage about a dozen public performances a year, including two big extra-curricular drama productions as well as public performance showcases of work by exam groups.

These fully staged productions involve a substantial number of students and attract large audiences. The school also liaises regularly with the West End.

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